Clovis Schlumberger

Clovis Schlumberger is a multi media, Franco-American artist, performer and animator, based in Paris and Los Angeles. He completed a 5-year cycle at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Paris.

He is particularly interested in semiology and visual codes, languages and the way they are established. Inspired by the Renaissance painting rules, he experimented on how the geometry of the composition of an image influences the perception of the content.

Clovis also created an alphabet based on physical postures which he performed, creating words and sentences with a group of artists, during the "Nuit Blanche" festival in Paris in 2018.

The theme of his latest installation is the artistic exploration of the visual language of the Internet “Memes”. His new series of paintings is about our emotional addiction to digital devices.
Clovis has also worked in collaboration with other artists, such as the American writer Jimmy Pappas and the French musician Paul Renard.

Artist Website: https://clovischlum.wixsite.com/artist

About "Our Own Device"

The pop-up exhibition “Meta-Morphosis” orchestrates a constellation of sculptures, paintings, and installations inspired by digital aesthetics and techno-human relationships. As vanguards in digital media, these artists translate their futurist visions into tangible, collectible art objects, employing techniques and materials from 3D printing to porcelain, glass fiber to reflective pigments.

The digital age has inaugurated new aesthetics about transformation. The title “Meta- Morphosis” refers to the process of transformation, a change of physical form, structure, or substance. A caterpillar undergoes metamorphosis to turn into a butterfly; a digitally conceived idea undergoes meta-morphosis to embody a tangible entity. Artists in the exhibition have channeled their imagination into physical objects while contemplating the constant changes of living things.

This series of paintings focus on our dependence on all-pervading digital devices. It explores the impact they have on the emotions we carry through and toward them.

Clovis started this series after acknowledging most of his work and leisure-related activities were spent on a computer. During Covid, the online had totally replaced the in-person and the line between the physical and the digital world became very blurry.

With this series, he provides a witty summary of the techno-human relationship in the digital era.

"Are these interconnected smart tools programmed to fulfill our real desires and needs, or are we consenting addicts living a pretend life through an avatar?

Whatever the answer, It is hard to imagine breaking up with them, they are our memory, our educator, and our emotional and adrenaline providers...

If I am conflicted about my digital life, my younger siblings have come to be at peace with their reclusive nature, but it felt important to me to start a conversation."

— Clovis Schlumberger